If you stumble upon asbestos in your home or business, you know that this dangerous material needs to be removed as quickly and efficiently as possible. The question is: How long does it really take to get rid of this harmful building material? The good news is that it may not take as long as you expect, though it can be quite inconvenient if you have to vacate the building. 

Here’s what you need to know about how asbestos removal works: 

Day One

For many projects, there’s an important stage that cannot be skipped when you want to keep everyone in the home or office as healthy as possible: Prep work. This can often take a full day by itself, depending on the location of the asbestos and the extent of the issue. If the removal only needs to take place in a part of the home or business, it’s important to section off this area to prevent asbestos particles from spreading to other parts of the building and working their way into your lungs where you return. 

Days Two and Three

The good news is that you can often get back into your building relatively quickly. Most of the time, the removal is limited to a 48-hour period. The removal in a small area may take only one day, while a more involved project may require more time. If the problem is spread throughout the entire building or covers sizeable square footage, then you might require extra time to remove all asbestos thoroughly. 

Final Testing

Once the asbestos is removed, it’s best to wait for all final testing to be completed before you resume living or working in the building. This is sent off to a third-party testing site to ensure that everything has been removed. Until this final testing comes back, all of the prep work that was done to contain the asbestos in a given area will remain intact. This will prevent any leftover asbestos from spreading if the test results come back as not clear. 

Clear results mean that the job is officially finished. It may take extra hours for your asbestos removal company to tear down all of its containment systems. This wait time is well worth it to help you be assured that you’re safe from these harmful particles. 

Construction Phase

Keep in mind that asbestos removal is only a part of the process. You may need some work done on the property to restore things after the asbestos removal takes place. It may require removing some building materials that will need to be replaced with asbestos-free items. In most cases, you can easily live in the home/work in the building while this takes place. However, you may want to factor this time into how long it actually takes to remove asbestos. 

Hire Professionals

Asbestos is a dangerous construction element that can cause serious harm, including deadly diseases like mesothelioma. You need to trust the removal of asbestos to the professionals who have the know-how and equipment to take care of the issue safely. For asbestos removal in Winnipeg, contact Winnipeg Demolition today!